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BRARY OF CONGRESS. 

PRESENTED BY 



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DELIVERED BY 



PERRY A. ARMSTRONG, ESQ., 

(Presi(Jent of the Old Settlers' Association of Grundy County, Ills.,) 



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Compiled from Various Sources, but Largely from the Records of LAWRENCE W. CLAYPOOL, 
Esq., Historian, and LEVI PIERCE, Esq., Secretary of the Society. 



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PEIXTED AT THE REFORMER OFFICE. 

1876. 



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BY 

PERRY A. ARMSTRONG, 

BEFORE THE OLD SETTLER'S ASSOCIATION OF GRUNDY CO,, 

Delivered July 4th, 1876, at Morris, Illinois. 



In 1770 there were on this continent 13 dependent Colonies with a 
population of about 3,000,000 of white people. One hundred years aeco to-day 
these colonies tool< the initiary steps to sever their dependence upon the 
Mother Country, Great Britain, and to establish a republican form of govern- 
ment. A declaration of independence was drawn up by a special committee, 
appointed by the Continental Congress then in session at Philadelphia. 
That committee was composed of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas .Jefferson, John 
Adams, Roger Sherman and R. R. r.ivingston — names as familiar as house- 
hold words to the American people. Jefferson was the leading mind upon 
that committee, and his hand penned the Declaration which must forever 
stand as a monument to the power of his intellect, and his facilit}' to com- 
municate his thoughts upon paper — a gift possessed by him above all of his 
compatriots. As the reading of the Declaration of Independence was con- 
clufied that old bell in the steeple of the old State House in Philadelphia 
tolled out a joyful peal. It is still preserved and to-day " proclaims liberty 
throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," for these words 
were inscribed upon it one hundred years ago. It still hangs in old 
Independence Hall, and for the one hundred and first time sends forth its 
glad peans of liberty, justice and equality before the law. On the 7th of 
.lune, 177(1, in obedience to a resolution of instruction, adopted in Conven- 
tion in Virginia (May loth,) Richard Henry Lee, one of the delegates to the 
Continental Congress, introduced in that body the following Resolution : 
"That the United Colonies are and ought to be free and independent States ; 



that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown and that all 
political connection between them and che State of Great Britain is and 
ouffht lo be dissolved." This resolution was debated from day to day until 
the 1st of July' when it was passed by a bare majority of tiie Colonies, and 
under it the Committee was appointed to prepare and re[)ort a proper decla- 
ration. Under parliamentary law, Mr. Lee should have been Chairman of 
this Committee ; but vvell-knowin<^ the peculiar fitness of his coUeaa'ue, Mr. 
Jefferson, Mr. hee declined a position on the committee that Mr. .letferson 
should be sul)stituted in his place. 

In that Declaration of Independence, adopted by the representatives (jf 
the thirteen Colonies in Congress assembled at Philadelphia, was the doctrine 
of the perfect equality of all men before the law for the rirst time in the 
world's history enuciated. "All men are created equal," was the key-note 
that rallied ar<nind the stars and stripes the brave and the good. Yea, its 
clarion notes were heard across the Atlantic, and brought to the defence 
of that Declaration a La Fayette and De Kalb with hosts of others. 

Upon that theory is based the whole superstructure of our Democratic 
form of Government under which from thirteen dependent, oppressed an(J 
down-trodden Colonies in 177G, thirty-eight free and sovereign States, with 
a population of over forty millions of intelligent, patriotic, christian people 
have sprung up within the cycle of one century — a growth without a parallel 
in the history of nations. Illinois, now the fourth State in the galaxy of the 
UnKjn, was then Init a howling wilderness, with but few civilized inhabitants. 
It. with the territory now embraced in many other of the Western States, 
was then known as the North Western Territory, and that portion embraced 
within the limits of the State of Illinois, so far as under the control of any 
civilized nation was in the hands of the Mother Country — Great Britain. In 
compliance with the joint Resolutions of the Congress of the United States 
and the President's proclamation requesting thi? centennial celebration of our 
natal dav to be devoted to local history of the various counties of these 
United States, we shall endeavor to give at least a portion of the history of 
Grundy County, and more especially the early part thereof. The State of 
Illinois derived its name from a now t;xtinct but formerly great nation of 
Indians, comprising no less than five tribes, known under the term Illini, or 
Illinois. The Tamarraos, Mic^higamies, Kaskaskias, Cahokias and F*eorias, 
each of and within themselves was a powerful nation, and when united they 
were superior in numbers to the Six Nations, known as the Iroquoi.s, with 
whom they had many bloody battles, and by whom they were finally van- 
quished, owing to the superior arras or implements of war used by the latter 
from coming in more frequent contact with the whites, owing to their more 
eastern locality. The significance of the word Illini, afterwards changed by 
the French to Illinois, is reol or superior men. The first white men that 
passed through the territory comprising Grundy County were the Jesuit 



Priest, Marquette, and his companion, Louis Joliet. The latter was educated 
for the Priesthood, but never took the orders, a native of Quebec, Canada, 
he was a man ot'^reat etiert^y and couraj^e. Jaques Marquette was a native of 
France, and a religious entliusiast of great ability and untiring zeal. Tiiese 
two intrepid explorers, with only five men as assistants and guards, with sueli 
))i«)visions and clothing as th(>y could stf)r(^ away in two light oaiujes, (Mubarkwd 
on the 17th day of May, 1(573, on their perilous voyage. Coasting along the 
northern shore of Lake Michigan to Green Bay, thence up Fox River to r^ake 
Winnebago, thence carrying their canoes and baggage to the Wisconsin 
Hiver, a distance' ot' three miles, and down that stream to the Father of 
Waters, the mighty Mississippi, and down its swift current to the mouth of 
the Arkansas, and then returiung as far as the mouth of the Illinois th(!y were 
told l)y the Indians that the Illinois River was a more direct route to Lake 
Michigan, hence they ascended the Illinois, passing Starved Rock Sept. IGth, 
1G73, near which was located the great town of the Tllini, called Kaskaskia, 
winch in their language means capital or seat of government. (This city 
having been annihilated by the Iroquois, in 1G80, the capital of the Illini was 
transferred to what is now Randolph Co., Illinois, under the same name, 
Kaskaskia, which still retains the name, although the Illini has been extinct 
oyer a hundred years.) After landing to view this singular and historic rock 
and celebrating as best they could their ritualistic Mass, they passed on 
via the Desplaines, and again carrying their canoes across to the Chicago 
River. (Jn passing the present site of the city of Morris, aliout the 18th day 
of Sept., l(i7o, they found quite an extensive Indian village here. It was tiie 
home of the Piankashaws, which a eentur}- later had for their chief the cele- 
brated Blackbird. 

Again in 1675, Marquette returned down the i^esplaines and Illinois Rivers 
to Kaskaskia, near Starved Rock, and established the Mission of the Emacu- 
late Conception — the first in the Territory. This Mission was, however, 
destroyed in 1G80, by the dread Iroqifois, who surprised the Illinois and 
burned their town. In 1G79, the intrepid traveler and explorer, Robert 
Cavalier, but more generally known as La Salle, the son of a wealthy farmer 
in France, a Catholic in faith but not a Priest, finely educated and of rare 
eloquence, ever ready tor adventure and always on the look-out for discove- 
ries, accompanied by Joliet as a guide, Henri Fonti, a one-handed Italian of 
great courage and rare financial talent, Fathers Louis Hennepin, Gabriel 
Ribourde and Zenohe Membre, Jesuits, and some 28 other Frenchmen, passed 
down the river with seven boats to Kaskaskia, or the Indian village, near 
Starved Rock, in La Salle county, where they found, as stated by Hennepin, 
4G1 lodges and from G,00() to 8,000 inhabitants. That they were cultivating 
large fields of corn, beans and pumpkins, and that they found Fathers Mar- 
quette and Dablon there at that time engaged in trying to christianize these 
Indians. Poor Marquette had sacrificed his heath in his exposures to sucli an 



extent that he was compelled to abandon his Mission in the year 1679, and 
died ere he reached the French settlements in Canada. La Salle and his 
band of Frenchmen built a fore near where Peoria now stands and named it 
Fort Crevecoer, or Fort of the broken-hearted, in view of the dangers and 
treacheries he had passed through. In the spring of 1080 Starved Rock was 
fortified as a fort by Tonti, under the orders of La Salle, and was held by him 
for 20 years. It was called Fort St. Louis, in honor of Louis XIV., then 
King of France. Many voyages were made up and down the Illinois River 
by La Salle and his subalterns from 1680 to 1700. Illinois was a dependenc^v 
of Canada, and formed a part of Louisiana from 1082 to 1721, when it was 
divided into seven districts and called New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, Alabama, 
Natcliez, Natchitochis and Illinois. From its discovery by La Salle, say in 
in 1679 to 1759, the Territory of Illinois was the capital stock of the most 
gigantic swindles in land trades and land grants, bank capital, &c., that ever 
was witnessed upon this Continent. In 1759 the ownership of this Territory 
was transferred from the Freeh to the English, by the battle upon the bloody 
Plains of Abraham, where the heroic Wolfe and the gallant Montcalm, the 
commanders of the opposing armies, were both mortally wounded, and where 
the brave General Wolfe, when told that the enemy were leaving the field in 
flight exclaimed, " then I die in peace." From this time up to 1778, the 
Territory was attached to Virginia and known as the North Western Terri- 
tory, when It was wrested from the English by that brilliant officer and heroic 
Virginian, Col. George Rogers Clark, who, under a commission from Governor 
Patrick Henry, a[)pointing him Liet. Colonel, authorized him to raise seven 
companies of fifty men each, officered in the usual manner, and properly 
armed to attack the British force at Kaskashia (in Randolph Co., III.) He 
started from the Falls of the Ohio on the 24th of June, 1778, on this 
hazardous enterprise, with only 1515 men, and struck out through the track- 
less forests without horses, ambulances, wagons or tents, marching on foot 
with muskets and knapsack, — sleeping upon the bare ground and depending 
upon wild fruit and such game as they could kill by the wayside, ragged, 
wearv and worn, they reached Kaskaskia July 4:th, and by a ruse and bold 
attack were in full possession of the town and fort, in less than two hours' 
time, without spilling a drop ofblood. He next sent a force under Major Bow- 
man to capture Fort C.'ahokia, some 50 miles further up the Mississipi River. 
This expedition moved with such celerity and at the same time secrecy that 
the inhabitants of (.'ahokia had no kiiowledgii of the presence of the dreaded 
" Lono' Knives," as the Virginians were termetl, until a surrender of the fort 
was demanded. Like Kaskaskia, C'ahokia surrendered without firing a gun. 
These were the only places of importance in the Territory and the only forti- 
fications, hence Col. Clark established his headquarters at Kaskaskia, and at 
once commenced forming treaties of peace and amity with the numerous Indian 
tribes of the Territory, and strengthening the friendship between the Ameri- 
cans and the French settlers. He was a man of the most wonderful executive 
ability and specially endowed by the Creator with those traits of character 



tliat excited tlie loars and won the confidence ol tlie untutored lied Men. In 
their neo^otiations with the Indians the English liad sought to make friends 
by a profuse expenditure of presents of trinkets and comparatively worthless 
^ew-g'aws, suited only to catch the fancy of the squaws and papooses. This 
eourst! Col. Clark deemed unwise; and extremely impolitic. He never made 
the fir.st advances, and seldiiin made any presents to them, and when he did 
it was with such an air of reluctance that enhanced their value in the minds 
ol the; recipients. About the first of Sept., 1778, there was a grand council 
ol the various tril.es of the Territory assembled at Cahokia, to which Colonel 
Clark was invited. The Indians being- the solicitors, Col. Clark took his seat 
in the middle of the Council, when one of the Chiefs approached him bearing 
three belts, one being the emblem of peace, another containing the sacred 
Pipe of Peace, and the third the fire to light it. Lighting the pipe, he first 
presented it toward Heaven, then to the earth, and then swinging it around in 
a circle to invoke the spirits to witness their good intentions, it was then 
presented to Col. Clark and the other members of the Council. Then another 
Chief arose and spoke in favor ol peace, concluding hisharran^ue by dashing 
to the earth the bloody belt and flag given him by the English, and stamping 
them into the earth as evidence of their rejection. Col. Clark very coldly 
told the Council that he would consider what had been said to him and give 
them his reply on the morrow, intimating, however, that their existence as 
nations depended upon the action ol the Council, and that as peace was not 
concluded they had better not shake hands with the Long Knives, for it would 
be time to give the hand when the heart could go with it. 

On the following day the Council reassembled, when Clark replied : 
''Men and warriors ! * * You informed me yesterday that you hoped 
the Great Spirit had brought us together for good. I have the same hope, 
and trust each party will strictly adhere to whatever is agreed upon whether 
it be peace or war. I am a man and warrior, not a counselor. I carry war 
in my right liand, peace in my left. I am sent by the Great Council of the 
Long Knives and their friends to take possession of all the towns occupied 
by the English in this country and to watch the red people, to bloody the 
paths of those'who attempt to stop the course of the rivers and to clear the 
roads for those who desire to be in peace. I am ordered to call upon the 
Great Fire for warriors enough to darken the land that the red people may 
hear no sound but of birds which live on blood. I know there is a mist 
before your eyes. I will dispel the clouds that you may clearly see the 
causes of the war between the Long Knives and the English, then you may 
judge which party is in the right, and if you are warriors, as you profess, 
prove it l)y adhering faithfully to the party which you shall believe to be 
entitled to your friendship." He then explained in detail the causes which 
led to the revolution and concluded — " The whole land was dark ; the old 
men held down their heads for shame, because they could not see the sun ; 



6 

and thus there was mouniiiiij,- for many years over the lat)cl. At last the 
Great S^jii'lt took pitv on us and kindled a Groat Council Fire at Philadelphia, 
])lanted a post, put a tomahawk by it and went away. The sun immediately 
broke out, the sky was blue ag-ain and the old men held up their heads and 
asseml)led at the fire. They to(^k up the hatchet, sharpened it and imme- 
diately put it in the hands of our young- men, ordering them to stri'<e the 
enemy as long as they could find one this side ol' the Great Water. The 
young men immediately struck the war post and blood was shed. In this 
way the war l)egan and the enemy wei-e driven from one place to another 
until they got weak and tlien hired the red people to fight for them. The 
Great Sjjirit got ang"ry at this and caused your old father, the J^renrih King, 
and other great nations to join the Long Knives and fight with them agaiiift 
all their enemies. So the English have become like deer in th(} ivoods, and 
you can see thai it was the Great Spirit that troubled ycur wat(M-s, because 
you have fought for the people with vvh:)m he was displeased. * * * * 
Here is a blootly belt and a peace belt ; cake which you pleaso. Behave like 
men, and do not let your being surrounded by Long Knives cause you to take 
up one l)elt with your hands while your hearts take up the other. * * "i" 
II you take; the path of peace and are received as brothers by the FiOng 
Knives and then listen to bad birds that are flying through the land, you 
cannot longer be considered men, but creatures with two tongues which 
ought to be destroyed." To this figurative and (Mo(p.ient address the groat 
Chief, Blackbird, replied : 

" We liave listened with great attention to what the Chief of the Long- 
Knives told us, and are thankful that the Great Spirit has opened oui- ears 
and hearts to receive the truth. We believe you tell us the truth, for you do 
not spoak like other jieople, and that our old men iire right who have always 
told us that the Eng-lish speak with doul)le tongues. We will take the belt 
of peace and cast down the bloody belt of war. Our warriors shall bo called 
home ; the to'nahawk shall be thrown into the river wIkm-o it can never be 
found ; and we will carefully smoothe the road hu* your i)rothers whenever 
thev wish to come and see you. Our friends shall hear of the good talk 3'ou 
have givcm us, and we hope you will send chiefs among our countrymen that 
thev may see we ai'e men and adhere to all we have promisiul at this fire 
which the Great Spirit has kindled for the good of all who attend." These 
extracts are s ifficient to show the great ability of Col. Clark. 

To the eloquence of a Cicero he added the dash of a C;esar and the tact of 
a Napoleon. lie died young or we should have heard more from him. 

In Oct., 1778, the Legislature of Virginia erected the conquered Terri- 
tory, — which is now divided into five sovereign States ol the linion with a 
])resent population of 0,(K)(),0()0 ))eople, — into the County of Illinois, with 
Col. Clark as military commander and Col. John Todd was, on tlie 12th of 
December, 1778, appointed by Gov. Patrick Henry, Lieutenant, commander of 
the County of Illinois. The latter was in command of this county of Illinois 
up to the time of his death, which occurred at the battle of Blue Licks, in 



Kentucky, August IS, 1782, Initiatory steps liatl been taken by Virginia 
Jan'y 2(1, 17'81, to cede tiiis County of Illinois to tin? Congress of the United 
States, but it was not consuinniatod until March 1st, 1784. From this tune 
Tip to Aug. 20, 1818, wliiMi Illinois was admitted into the Union as a State, 
this "C/Ounty of Illinois," brt beltei- kruiwii us the North Western Territory, 
was under Territorial Governors, Gen. St. C'air being one and Gen. Harrison 
another of them. P"'rom a population of 5(),0()(), in 1818, Illinois has to-day 
fully 2,(;(H),()()(). 

Ghuxdv County 
Is composed of Townships No. IJl, -j/, o2 and 34, north of the base line and 
Ranges No. G, 7 and 8, east of the 'M Principal Meridian, and is therefore 24 
nnles frcjm north to south lines, and 18 mib^s from east to wtist lines. The 
Desplaines and Kankakee Rivers unite on See. 3(5, T. 34, R. 8, near the east 
Ibie of the county, and form the Illinois River, passing a little south of a 
westerly course leaves the county at Sec. 30, T. 33, R. ('», on the west line. 
The Illinois and Michigan Canal follows very closely the river all the way 
through the county. The Chicago, Rock Island & facilic Rail Road enters 
the county on Sec. 1, T, 34, R. 8, and passess out on the west on Sec. 18, T. 
33, R. <J, thus lunning nearly parallel with the River and Canal. The Chi., 
Alton & St. Louis Rail Road e iters the count}' from the east on 
Sec. 24, T. 32, R. 8, running south west through the south east part of 
the county, passing out through Section 34, T, 31, R. 7, while the Illinois 
River Rail Road passes from east to west through ai)out tlie centre of the 
county. In fossil botany Grundy County stands unrivalled l)y any locality in 
the world, and in coal the supply is inexhaustible, though the strata is thin, 
ranging from 30 to 3(J inches, and in its Aux Sable sandstone it has the rtnest 
building stone in the world. Originally a part of La Salle County, Grundy 
was erected under act of the General Asseml)ly of this State, approved Feb. 
17, 1841, and was named for Felix Grundy, the great lawyer of Tennessee. 
Under the act the election of ollieers for the new county was fixed for May 
24th, 1841, at the tavern oi Columbus Pinney, iiut better known as Castle 
Dangerous, some 3 miles west of Morris. This was the only voting place for the 
entire county, but was amply sufficient, for there were but 148 votes cast ; 
and they were all out, for seldom has there been a more exciting election, caused 
chielly by the fact that Wm. E. .■Armstrong and Geo. H. Kiersted, both of 
whom afterwards became county officers and obtained the confidence and 
respect of the people, had at that time just removed from Ottawa to Grundy 
and were candidates — one for Sheriff, the other for Recorder. They were 
both beaten at this election. Mr. Isaac Hoge was elected Sheriff (but failed 
to (jiialify, and at a subsetjuent special election Mr. Armstrong was elected 
to that office, and was re-elected sevei'al times afterwards.) The officers 
elected at this time were James Naijle, Clerk of the County Commissioner's 
C(jurt ; Henr\' Cryder, .Jacob Claypool and .lames McKeen County Commis- 



8 

sioners ; L. W. Claypool, Recorder of Deeds ; Leander Leclere, Coroner ; 
Joshua Collins, Probate Justice ; Sidney Dunton, County Treasurer ; and 
Leander Newport County Surveyor. Of those 148 voters who participated 
in the organization of this count/, 35 years ago, about 30 are still liviag- — 
Win. H. Perkins, Samuel S. R indall, Win. Walters, John Downey, Samuel 
Hoge, Wm. Hoge, Isaac Hoge, Lawrence White, William White, Thomas 
Carroll, Zaeliiuiah Walley, Jam ;s McKi;en, James Thompson, James Harvey, 
Jeremiah Collins, Joshua Collins, Philip C )llins, John Longhead, Orvillo 
Cone, .lohn Dewey, Jacob Claypool, Michael H. Cryder and L. W. Claypool 
are still residents of the county, while Mijssrs. Theron Collins, Joseph r..ewis, 
Daniel AL Thomas, Elijah Walker, Barton Holderman, Columbus Pi-.noy and 
Alex. K., better known as "Sucker Owen," are still living or were at last 
accounts. The residue have passed to the other side of the silent river. 
The following are the earliest settlers, and in the order of their settle- 
ment as nearly as we can locate them : Wm. Marquis and family, moved 
with ox-tfan; and sch()oner-v\ngon from Madison County, Ohio, overland 
through the wilderness to S fractionof Section two, Township thirty-three, 
Range seven, in October, ISSS. He built a small cabin of sucii mate- 
rial as he and family could handle, and into this was placed his housidiold 
eflects. He was the pioneer settler by full three years. His nearest neigh- 
bor was .lames Galloway, near where Marseilles now stands, a distance of 
nearly 30 miles. It was here that he lost his son, William, IG years of 
age, who died of fever in August, 1830. Physicians there were none within 
a hundred miles. Having no place to keep the corpse in the one small 
room of his cabin, which served for kitchen, dining-room, bed-room and sit- 
ting room, he wrapped the inanimate body up as best he could, placed it on 
top of his little smoke house to keep it away from the prowling wolves. 
Unable to bury his son without help, and his wife and daughters l)eing sick, 
he struck out on foot for his nearest neighbor, Mr. Galloway, 20 miles distant, 
to obtain his assistance in burying his dead child. Sick at heart, emaciated 
and weakened by sickness, and worn out by long, solicitous and unceasing 
watching by the sick bed of his son, this afflicted man took his solitary 
course through the trackless prairies and pathless woods, on this sad errand. 
Foots«M-e and weary he reached Mr. Galloway's house at eventide, too much 
fatigued and overcome by the excessive heai of the day and its labors to 
think of returning before the next day. Mr. Galloway, like himself, had no 
horses — they had no grain to feed them or place to keep them — thus these 
two started on their funeral procession early on tlie morrow, and reached 
their destination in the evening, too wearied and worn to attempt the funeral 
that day. Early on the following day they commenced the preparation for the 
first funeral of the county. The first and most important question was what 
would they do 'for a cofHn. There was no lumber within fifty miles. They 
had no tools save a hand saw, auger, ax and hammer. They started to find 
something in which to place the body. An Indian canoe was found in the 



9 

Mazoii,iuMi- 1)\-. This was coiirisciited and appropriatotl. With tho oM hand- 
saw th(! t-aiioo was cut in tw', anil one eiul was laUon for a collin. With tiio 
ax a hasswood tree was (rllod and a portion of the trunk was split into 
Tinnchr>ons to inakn tho r>nd piece and collin lid. The corpse was then placed 
in this strtniLii^ conin. Ilavino,- no nails, the au!i;er was used in hoiinu" a sulTi- 
cient nun»i)er of holes to fasten the ej\d piece and lid, and wooden pins were 
made and driven in. Thus was the first coIlin constrncied in this county. 
Tlavinir succec-ded in <j,-('ttinp^ the corpse in the eotlin the next difficulty vvas 
in gettinfj it to the gi'ave which they had dug on the highland near where 
Mr. Sainuel Holdertnan now lives. The old waoron with which he had movc'd 
to the State two years previous could not stand tlu^ sunshine and the stortn 
to wln'ch It had lieeu exposed for want of shelter and Inid tumbled down. A 
vol<e of oxen were l)rought into rotjuisition, and with a log chain around one 
(Mid, •^'-'ev stalled to "snake''' the coffin to its place ; but, unfortunately, the 
oxen had not been worked for some time, nnd had grown wild and unman- 
ageable; they broke away from their drivers anil ran for dear life into that 
monster slough east of Samuel Holderman's house, and here they persisted in 
r(Miiaining until near sundown l)etore they were coaxed to be driven to the 
snilitarv ffrave. The grave of yonno- ^Farquis, like that of Moses, " no man 
knoweth the spot." The Marquis family, havino- the first funeral, doubtless 
ha;^ the first weddin<>-, tlmt of tlnMr iddest daughter, Nancy, to .Tames 
,T. Halsey. Mr. Win. Hoge's was doubtless the second family here. He set- 
tled with his family on Sec. 25, T. 34, R. f). where he still resides, in the fall of 
1S,31, and .Tames B. Iloge. his son, is believed to be the first white 
child T)orn in the county. Tie was born May 0th, 1834:. .Tames Mclveen, 
Esq., is probably the third. He settled on the Aux Saf)le, in 1S33, and built 
the first house in Morris, a log cabin, about where the gas works now stand, in 
May, 1834, for .Tohn P. Chapin. John Beard, Sr., his father-indavv, settled 
where Shermanvilie now stands, in 1833. In Nov., of the same year, Mr. 
Zachariah Walley settled where he still lives. A. Iv. Owen settled on Sec. 
24, Town of Mazon, in May of that year. Col. Sayers built a cabin near 
where J. H. Pattison's house now stands in same year. Tt was occupied the 
ne-:t year by W. A. Holloway, who is still living. Mr. .Tohn Faylor, the 
father-ir-law of Amos Clover, Esq., built a cabin on Sec. 33, in Town of Ma- 
zon, in same year. Win. H. Perkins built a log cabin at his old homestead, 
in the Town of Aux Sable, in Sept. of that year, and Nathanii?! 11. Tabler built 
his first house near where he still lives, in Oct. of that year. Mr. Salmon Ruth- 
erford settled on See. 23, 34, 8, in .Tune, 1833, and Henry Cryder, 
father of M. H. Cryder, Esq., settled on Section eight, Township thirty- 
four. Range eight, in the same year. Tn 1834 there were quite a 
number of families settled here. Geo. W^. Armstrong built a cabin on section 
(i, Town of Vienna, in the early part of March. A Mr. Grove built a cabin 
about the same tinu; on section 4, same town, now occupied and owned by Jona- 
than Wilson. Early this spring, James McCarty, an old bachelor, took 



10 

possession of a little bottom land, 2 or o acres, on section 5, Wauponseh Grove, 
formerly occupied by the Chief, Wauponseh, as a corn patch. He built him a 
little camp and raised a crop of corti, &c., with a hoe. Tn the fall he built him 
a shanty of the corn fodder, in which he wintered. The families of the Col- 
linses, Claypools, Samuel and Isaac Hoge, E. W. Chapin, Jacob Spores, Char- 
iev Paver, \)v. L. S. Hol)l>ins, Datus Kent, Daniel Bunch and Timothy Hor- 
rom were among the settlers of 1834. Eldward Hollands started the first 
blacksmith shop at what is known as Holland's Ford, on th(^ Mazon Creek, 
in 1S35. 

MolMMS. 

Under the act, cieating the c(Minty of Gi'undy, ^^ ard B. linrru^tt, Rniief 
S. Durwveaand Wm. E. ArmstrDno- wer(? appointed, in conjun('ti(>n with the 
Canal Commissioners, to locate the county seat. It also required tin; count\' 
seat to be located on Canal land, and directed them to set apari ior that 
purpose any quantity of canal land, not exceeding ten acres, and after doing 
so to proceed to lay off said land into a town site, embracing lots, streets, 
allevs and a public square, giving one-half to the State and the other to the 
County, alternately, and ol equal value, the County to pay for its 
share at tlie rate of ten dollars per acre, thus making everything subserve to 
th(! interest of the Canal, then iu course of construction. This County Seat 
Board was composed of parties, representing, as the sequel proved, conflicting 
and antagonistic interests. Generals Thornton and Fry and Newton Clou(], 
composing the Board ol Canal Commissioners, were looking with an eye 
solely to the interest of the canal fund, while Gen. liurnett and iNFessrs. 
Durvvyea and Armstrong were looking to the interests of the people of Grundy 
County in locating t!ie seat of justice where it would be the most accessible 
and best location regardless of collateral issues. The competing points were 
sections 7 and 0, both in T. 33, R. 7. Nine was central frcMn east to west. 
Seven was two miles west of the geographical center. Both were several 
miles north of the center from north to south, but by the act the seat of 
pistice must be located on the line of the Canal. The greater portion of sec- 
tion lies south of the Illinois River — indeed but a mere fraction — that part 
of the city lying south of Washington and West of Division Streets, is all that 
Mes north of the river, while nearly all of section 7 does li*^ north of the river, 
hence the Canal Commissioners were in fav<M-of Sec;. 7, while the others were; 
for 9, and a dead lock was the result. Thus the n^atter stood for a year, while 
Grundy County presented the anomalous condition of beins" a county without 
a (;ountv seat. In 1842, Hon. Isaac N. Morris, of Quincy, Illinois, was 
appointed to succeed Gen. Thornton, on the Board of Canal Commissioners, 
and this joint committee on county seat again met, on the 12th of April, 1842, 
when Mr. Morris cast his vote for section 0, and in honor of that vote was the 
county seat named Morris. As we do not find any lots in the name of Mr. 
Morris, we are lead to the conclusion that no bribery was used in obtaining 



11 

Ilis vote. Ill tlu^ meaiitiiiie a town was hiMiiif l)uilt licre where Morns now 
stands, Mr. Armstron^j^ settled here, ami the county's business had to be 
transacted. The County Coinmissioner's Court was held on Monday, the 14th 
lay of .Inno, 1841, as the record says, " at the house of Wm. E. Armstrong, 
in said countv," thus, und<M- tlu^ j)rovisions of the act forming Giundy 
County, its organization was perfected and completed. The new town was 
called Grundy at first. Afterwards an atteujpt was made to change the 
name to Xenia, but the Board of(younty C'ommissioners could not agree upon 
the orthography of the word. This vas before the ccjuntyseat was definitely 
located. The first settler whtn-e Morris now stands was John Cryder, vvho 
njoved into the log cabin built by Mr. McKeen, in 1834. The next was 
Peter Griggs, vvlio built a cabin near where ihe acjueduct now is in 1837, and 
of the inhabitants of 1845 there are left but C. H. Goold, John Antis, John 
McNeills, James B. Jones, DominicU McGrath, P. A. Armstrong, Thomas 
Reynolds, M. P. Wilson, Thomas Murnan, John Hart, John Glennen, Jacob 
Griggs and Thos. E. McGrath, barely a baker's dozen. The Morris Post 
Office was established in November, 184^, L. W. Claypool, P. M. It was 
supplied by horseback from Ottawa to Jolietoncea week. The gross receipts 
ol the office for first quarter of 1843 were $12.15. There were two other 
post offices then in Grundy county — Dresden and Kaidtakee, now Sherman- 
ville— but thev have long since been discontinued. George H. Kiersted 
succeeded Mr. Claypool as Post Master in 1845, and carried the mail around 
with him in his hat and distributed it to parties he might meet. That was 
when George was a giant in intellect and physical strength. He was a 
nobb^-hearted fellow, and we miss him much to-day. "Peace to his 'mains.'" 
A petition signed by 08 voters, being nearly one-half of the entire voters 
of the county, was prepared in the fall of 1841, praying the establishment of 
a post office at the "Town of Grundy, on Sec. 4, T. 33, R. 7," and forwarded 
to the Postmaster General, but refused because it was not a county seat. So 
the good people of Grundy were compelled to go either to Dresden, nine 
miles distant, to get their letters and papers, or go without them. (The 
postage in those days was 25 cts in hard money on each letter.) Mr. Arm- 
strong being fully satisfied that the county seat would be ultimately located 
on Section nine, removed his family from Ottawa here, taking possession of 
the only house — tllfc log cabin built by Mr. McKeen, in 1834, as before stated, 
and commenced the erection of a hotel upon the spot now occupied by the 
Hopkins house. This hotel was known as the "Grundy Hotel,*' and was burnt 
down in the winter ot 1851. In this !)uilding was held all the Courts for 
nearly two years He also, upon his own responsibility, erected a wooden 
strnctuie upon the north west corner of the ndw public square for a Court 
House, which was used as such until the erection ot the present fine Court 
House in 185G. A town was laid ofi' i)y John P. Chapin, on the SE^ of 
Sec. 4, known as Chapm's Additioii to Morris, and this locality was looked 



12 

upon and nnnsidered l)y the people as the count\' scat. Mr. Claypool, the 
Recorder. l)uilt a small frame house west of tlic Court House where Shaw's 
restaurant now stands, and opened his otTice of Recorder there — thus the full 
machinerv of a county ^-overnment was put in operation without a county 
seat, for bv the act creatinn- th(> county the people liad no voice in locatinc it 
save throup-h the Commissioners named in the act. The fiist term of the 
Circuit Court- was held at the loo- cabin of Mr. Armstronir, in June, 1841, 
Thcophnlus W. Smith, .Tudo-o of the 7th .Tuibcial Circuit, presidinir. There 
was but one case on the docket and that vvas dismissed by aj^reement of par- 
ties. There was nothinar for the Grand .Tury to invc^sti^'ate. not even a jail, 
and thev were dischar£rcd at once. The record of this term of Court is 
written upon a half sheet of letter paper and pasted into a record book subse- 
quently purchased for that purpose. Judo-e Caton held the next term of the 
Circuit Court, and Ricliard M. Youno- succeeded Catoii. Judo-e David Davis 
hebl one term of this Court. Up to 1840 there was no jail of any kind in the 
county. In Dec, 1845, Jacob (claypool and Geo. H. Kiersted were appointed 
a committ<-e to prepare plans atid specifications and to let the coiitr-act for a 
jail, to be located near the south east corner of the public stpiare. Thev 
performed that labor in rather a new style of architecture. The plan adopted 
was to sink a lK)le in the o-round 14x14 and 12 feet deep, with a cabin on top, 
making the floor, sides and top of heavy hewed timber, cuttino- out a space 
in the centre for a trap door to drop the prisoners throuo-h. This trap door 
was made of bai's of iron runninp- across each other at riu'ht ancfles, lattice 
work, to let a little daylig'ht through, and was fastened on top I)y luisp and 
staple with a heavy padlock. The contract for this undero-round jail wiis 
awardeil to Dominick McGrath, for $203. 00, he being the lowest responsible 
bidder; but when the Commissioner's Court came to settle with him, while 
the work was satisfactorily done on his part, yet these Solons then comj-josinp- 
the lioard of County Commissioners thoup-ht "OUl Dom" was o-ettinp- rich too 
fast, and refused to pay him unless he would throw off .^40 from the contract 
price. This lie finally assented to, and received his county order, then worth 
about Toe on the dollar, for $162.50, and this was the price oi jails m lS45-r» 
So inhuman did this jail appear to Old Bill Armstronp-, known as "the EmjKM'or 
ot the Grundies," who was Sheriff of tlie county from the fall of 1841 to 1848, 
that he seldom put a prisoner in it. Even Captain Cottrell, who took a 
chano-e of venue all the way fiom McHcMiry cfuintv, and was proven p-uiltv<>f 
stealinp- nearly everythinix from a wheelbarrow to a threshi?io- uiachine, was 
saved from tiiis terrible hole in the p-round, and in time so pained the confi- 
dence of the Emj)eror that he was placed in charp-e of the ferry, which was 
established near where the bridp-e now stands, and while there he made 
friends enough to insure his acquittal on the trial; not because he had not 
been proven puilty of tlie charp-es in the indictment, but because they thoup-ht 
he had relormed and repented. Poor Cottrel!, his acquittal was really an 
injury to him, as ho next attempted to steal a steamboat, at Louisville, Kv., 



13 

aiiel was sent to poiiitentiaiy ior 14 yi-ais. At the December 'rerm, 1S1!», of the 
County C'diirt, wlio under the Statuti! of 184/) succeeded the County Commis- 
sioner's Court, Geo. II. Kiersti'd, l^hilip ('ollins and Robert Gil)son were 
appointiMl CoininissioiKM's to lay oil' th(> County into Towns nndei' Townshii) 
( )rii-ani/.ar inn. Thev (iividcii the citunty into thirtei'ii towns and sul)rui\t('d 
their report ^[arch "id, IS,")!), 'i'ln; names of two of thes(^ towns were ehanjr(;d 
froni th(^ report. What is now ^Eiieiina was " Fair \'iew," and Goodfarni was 
'"• r)ov(.'r,'" in their report. The town of Felix was organized in 18G(), and 
named Felix for Felix Grundy — thus, althout>h thei-e are but 13 Con^^ressional 
Townships, there are 14 Towns in the Countv, vi/.: ^rienna, Aux Sable, 
Braceville, Felix, Greenfield, Goodl'arm, Ili^-hland, Mazon, Morris, Nettle 
Creek, Norman, Saratoji'a, ^"ienna and Wauponseii. Tlie names ot these 
various towns were sutj^i^'ested by the iidiabitants. Saratog-a, for instance, 
was namev.1 l)y Mr. C. G. Coidvlin, for Saratoga, New York. Wauponseh was 
nmned like Wauponseh Street, in Morris, for that old l;eathon and black- 
hearted murderer, W^auponseh, the Pottawatomie Chiei, who tVjrmerly lived 
at what is also called W^auponseh Grove. The last actof this old Hend before 
he mov(Hl west of tlfe Mississippi, in 1837, was the cold-i)looded murder of 
captive scpiaw, the unfortunate Osage, to whom had been assigned the 
drudgery of taking care of his copper-(;oloi'ed papooses. With the instinct 
of initure this poor sc[uavv attempted to gain her freedom by flight from her 
hateful bondage. She was pursued and brought back and beaten nearly to 
death with clubs in the hands of Wauponseh's s(juaws, then bleeding and 
suffering the most agonizing pains, she was laid upon her l)ack upon the 
newly plowed land of Mr. McKeen, near the Kaid<akee River, where she was 
surrounded by the squaws of Wauponseh, crouching down in a circle around 
their half-murdered victim, with the scorching rays of an August sun pouring 
down on her bruised and bleeding face, this old fiend standing near her head 
delivered to her some kind ot a jargon lecture and then caused her sister 
captive^an Osage squaw — to brain her with a tomahawk, thus inflicting' not 
only the death penalty, but the most degrading one known to the Indian, — 
that of being killed by a squaw. 

Up to the time the deed was done not an Indian save Waupon- 
seh was in sight, but then they seemed to rise, like the soldiers of Roderic 
Dhu, from every copse and fern and came swooping around like a flock of 
l)uzzards to a carrion. The body was carried to the edge of the Kankakee 
River ar.d covered with sand and left to the mercy of the wolves, while Wau- 
ponseh and his band started on their trip west of the Mississii)|)i River never 
to return. Mr. McKeen, who witnessed the transaction with horror, waited 
until the murderers were out of sight, when he duo^ a grave and 
ileposited the body of this unft)rtunate captive therein and gave her a decent 
burial. The name of Wauponseh should stand with that ot the Modoc, Capt. 
.lack, and only used in execration and scorn. He was a giant in size — a 
Devil by nature. His name has been confoundyd with that of Waubansee 



14 

who was iuiother and a v(3ry different Imiiaii Chief. 7 he iatter fignred in 
the massacM-e of th(^ a-arrison al L'hic.an-o, 1813, as a friend of ilie whites, and 
helped to save the life of John H. Kin/ie and family. Waiiponseh's Hrst 
appearance was at the battle of the Thames, Oct. 4, 1813, as a private At 
this battle a uiusUet Iiall passed throug-h his i:)reast, and ho havin«r 
survived the simph,-- minded and superstitions Indians interpreted his 
sin!i;ular recovery as an omen Iroin the (ireat Sj)irit that lie 
should be their War Chief. How different was the character of that 
Other Pottawattoniie Chief, Simboneh. He too vvas in the battle 
of the Thames, and close beside Tecumseh when he fell. He saw 
enoujrh of tlu^ whites at that l)attle to convince him that th(^ Red Men shoulil 
never attempt to concpier the whites, and trom that day to the time of his 
death he was th(i Hini fiiend of the ]>ale faces, and always warned them if 
witliin his power when danger threatened them. His reply to Black Hawk, 
in 1832, to the hitter's statement that if Shaboneh " would uniie ins braves 
with the Sacs and Foxes they would have an army like the trees of the forest." 
"Aye, rei)lied Shaboneh, but the army of the pale faces would outnumber the 
leaves upon thy trees of the forest," should never be' forg;otten, and his 
Jintiiini)' and persistent efforts to warn the frontiers of their danger whenever 
and wherever he learned of Black Hawk's intention to massacre them are 
facts well known to all of the early settlers of Northern Hiinois. His remains 
slumber in the Morris cemetery without monument. He was a man of tact 
as well as talent. When some years since while attending a 4th of July ball, 
at Ottawa, he was asked to point out the prettiest lady in the room, and 
accepted the task, after a close scrutiny of the many handsome ladies in 
the room, and knovvii>g that in selecting one he must give offense to many, he 
nicely eva<led it by selecting Wiomex Oquawka Shaboneh, his own old wife, • 
weighing tul! 400 pounds, as the one. He died on his farm, (20 acres,) in the 
Town of Norman, in this county, July 17, 1859, aged 84 years. His wife was 
drowned in the Mazon, Nov. 30, '')4, ag'd 80 yrs, and is buried by his side. Their 
daughter, Mary, died May 14, 1860, and a grand daughter, Mary Okamo 
Shal)oneh, was drowned with the old squaw, Nov. 30. 18(34, and are buried 
beside Shal)oneh. He was of a cheerful disposition, gentle as a lamb, 
yet brave as a lion. It is a shame that no monument has been erected to his 
memory. Yet it matters not whether his virtues be inscribed upon a monument 
of stone or not. His deeds of mercy and self-sacrifice in saving the lives of 
the early settlers, in 1832, will outlive sculptured marble or polished dome. 
The Recording Angel has written them down in the Book of Life, in letters 
of burnished gold, which cannot be obliterated or erased, and among the 
frontiersmen of chat date and their descendants, the name of Shaboneh and 
his deeds, will be handed down from father to son, and from mother to her 
prattling babe, from generation to generation, as household words and 
sacred legends. 



There vv^ire 19 separate and distitict mouiuls, wliere Morris stands, as late 
as 1845, in each of whudi the sUcdt^toii Ixmesol' human beiiipfs have been found 
with many Indian trinkets. The cedar pole, on Waupoiiseh Street, marks 
the burial place 'of Nnc(|uett, and has stood there undoubtedly over a hun- 
dred velars. When he died \\n know not — we only know die name from 
ti'adition. 

The old settlers are rapidly passintr away. Since our re-union last 
September threes members of our association have passed t) the other side of 
the silent river. They i.re — Abraham C. Carter, the second officer of our 
Society ; Geor<i^e H. Kiersted, whose name has been most intimately inter- 
woven with the history of the county, and foi- oO years a county ollicer ; and 
Mrs. Morg'an Button. Many more will soon follow — 

For long we cannot tarry here, 

And soon — full soon — U\c ead will be 
VVlicn free from sorrow, pain and fear 

We'll rest at home — Eternity. , 




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